Sounds, Visions and Insights by Brian Skutle

Well, with the Oscars finally happening on Sunday, it’s now time for my final look at the nominees, and a look at my final predictions (all nominations listed in order of preference), and whether they’ve changed in the past month.

Before I get to the festivities, though, an update on where my Top 10 Best and Favorites for 2012 stand now.

Oscarâ€™s Pick:“Argo”. Without a Best Director nomination, it’s always possible “Lincoln,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” or “Life of Pi” could take the top prize, but I’m guessing Ben Affleck’s great true story thriller will become only the fourth Best Picture winner that wasn’t nominated for its director, as well. And honestly, it couldn’t happen to a better film.

Oscar’s Pick:Benh Zeitlin. With non-nominee Ben Affleck cleaning up the pre-Oscar awards this past month, Best Director is put in play in some intriguing ways. With the exception of Haneke, who will likely win Foreign Language Film, I can see a scenario where the remaining four can each win. But I’m going to go with first-time director Zeitlin, who was a surprise nominee, and whose film, I’m guessing, has deep support within the Academy. True, I probably shouldn’t be so quick to bet against previous winners Spielberg and Lee, whose films led in overall nominees, but with Affleck out of the picture, anything can happen.

Oscar’s Pick:Jennifer Lawrence. With Chastain and “Zero Dark Thirty” losing steam late in the game, the stars have aligned for Lawrence, nominated for the second time in three years as Best Actress, to win for her radiant and foul-mouthed performance in “Silver Linings Playbook,” although don’t be too shocked if Wallis or Riva sneak up on her.

Oscar’s Pick:Tommy Lee Jones. This is one of the rare years in which an acting category, this late in the race, could go one of five ways; there are plausible scenarios in which each actor could win. But I’m going to go with Jones, not only for giving one of his best performances since his first Oscar win nearly 20 years ago, but also because of how deep the support for “Lincoln,” which may not be a lock for Best Picture, is.

Oscar’s Pick:Anne Hathaway. It might be the only major win for “Les Miserables” of the evening, but damn, is it a deserving one. Ms. Hathaway has shone on Oscar night before, but this time, it’ll be as a winner.

Oscar’s Pick:“Django Unchained”. This is a very tough one to predict. The WGA went with “Zero Dark Thirty,” and believe me, Boal is completely worthy of winning his second Oscar in four years, but the optimist in me wants to say the Academy will reward the delightfully original “Kingdom.” But I think the Academy will go with unpredictability and give Tarantino his second writing Oscar for his crazy revisionist history epic.

Oscar’s Pick:“Argo”. “Lincoln” should be winning here because of Tony Kushner’s smart, engrossing storytelling of a narrative that could have bored the audience to tears, but I have a feeling “Argo,” which might be making some history Sunday, will leap over it for it’s tense, entertaining true story.

Before I get to the music categories, a word. Despite my not having seen a couple of the nominated films, I have been able to listen to all of the nominated scores and songs, so I am able to rank these according to personal preference. -Brian Skutle

Oscar’s Pick:“Life of Pi”. This was already a frustrating year for me with this category, but the chances of “Pi,” and first-time nominee Danna, winning, and the lack of some truly deserving, original scores, is disappointing. Don’t get me wrong: Danna is wholly deserving as a composer (he’s impressed me previously with “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Tideland,” and “Moneyball”), but, while his score for “Pi” is very good, it just didn’t have the impact of some of these other nominees. Still, I can definitely be happy for Danna winning, even if I’d love to see Newman or Desplat win more.

Brian’s Top Five: â€œBraveâ€; â€œFrankenweenieâ€; â€œThe Secret World of Arriettyâ€; â€œParanormanâ€; “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”

Brian’s Pick: “Brave”

Oscar’s Pick:“Wreck-It-Ralph”. Sadly, I have yet to see Rich Moore’s acclaimed winter hit, but the big box-office, along with critical kudos, make it a big winner over the rest of this impressive list.

Oscar’s Pick:“Searching for the Sugar Man”. As I got caught up with this year’s nominees, I found out just how great this year was for documentaries. In a category of powerful social docs, I think the surprising, remarkable true story of “Sugar Man”– one of the best documentaries ever, in my opinion –will win out.

Oscar’s Pick:“Life of Pi”. Admittedly, I can see “The Avengers,” the year’s biggest box-office hit, taking this one, but I’m thinking that, as with “Hugo” last year, the Academy will go with the Best Picture nominated, and equally-stunning, “Life of Pi.”

Oscar’s Pick:“Les Miserables”. If a musical is in, chances are, it’s going to win, and since they did something never tried before, and recorded the singing live, it’s hard to imagine “Les Miserables” won’t be out “Life of Pi” and “Lincoln” here.

Oscar’s Pick:“Life of Pi”. “Skyfall,” and the never won master, Roger Deakins, could sneak by for the best-looking Bond in ages, but I’m going to guess “Life of Pi,” with its triumphant use of 3D, takes the win.

Oscarâ€™s Pick:“Zero Dark Thirty”. I’m really torn on this one. The not-nominated “Cloud Atlas” aside, both “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty” are the year’s finest examples of film editing resulting in fluid storytelling, and since “Argo” will, very likely, win Best Picture, I don’t really want to bet against it here. But for that final raid on bin Laden’s compound alone, I can’t imagine the Academy not choosing “Zero Dark Thirty” over “Argo.”

Oscarâ€™s Pick:“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”. “Les Miserables” might win simply because it’s a Best Picture nominee, but thinking about it, I have a feeling the Academy as a whole will recognize the continued excellence of the work WETA has done in returning to Middle Earth for “The Hobbit.”